Lester Beall (American, 1903–1969)

Arnold Newman
Portrait of Lester Beall, 1950
Gelatin silver print
9 1/2 x 6 1/2” (24.75 x 16.75 cm)

For a useful chronology of Beall’s career published in R. Roger Remington, Lester Beall: Space, Time and Content (Rochester, NY: RIT, Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2003), click here.

View our newsletters:

Lester Beall (American, 1903–1969): Highlights from our Poster Collection July 20, 2021

New York World’s Fair (1939/1940): Freedom Pavilion October 18, 2022

Posters

Rural Electrification Administration

Poster: Light. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Heat—Cold. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Running Water. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Wash Day. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Farm Work. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: Radio. Rural Electrification Administration, 1937
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Poster: It’s Fine for Us. Rural Electrification Administration, 1939
Silkscreen
40 x 30” (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

World’s Fair (New York 1939)

Maquette for (unrealized) poster: It Mustn’t Happen Here: Buy Defense Bonds, Freedom Pavilion, New York World’s Fair (1939/1940), c. 1939
Gouache, pencil, and cut- and-pasted gelatin silver prints and paper
27 1/2 x 19 1/2” (69.8 x 49.5 cm)

United States Housing Authority

Poster: Slums Breed Crime. United States Housing Authority, 1941
Lithograph
39 1/2 x 29 1/8” (100.3 x 73.9 cm)

Poster: Cross out Slums. United States Housing Authority, 1941
Lithograph
39 3/4 x 29 1/2” (101 x 75cm)

United States Lines

Poster: S.S. United States, United States Lines, c. 1952
Lithograph
29 7/8 x 21 7/8” (76 x 55.5 cm)

Poster: S.S. America, United States Lines, c. 1952
Lithograph
29 7/8 x 21 7/8” (76 x 55.5 cm)

Printed Matter (1930s)

Chicago Tribune

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Consider Chicago!, [1934]
Lithograph, mounted on board
16 3/4 x 11 3/4” (42.5 x 30 cm)

Advertisement proof for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
11 5/8 x 8 3/8” (29.6 x 21.4 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
12 3/4 x 8 3/8” (32.3 x 21.3 cm)

Book: 15 Drawings prepared for the Chicago Tribune Travel Bureau by Lester Beall, 1934
[Letterpress]
7 1/8 x 6 5/8 x 1/4" (18 x 17 x .5 cm), closed

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Consider Chicago!, 1934
Lithograph, mounted on board
16 x 11 5/8” (40.5 x 30.25 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
11 5/8 x 7 3/4” (29.6 x 19.8 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
11 3/4 x 8 3/8” (29.9 x 21.5 cm)

7 1/8 x 13 (18 x 33 cm), open

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: 52% Greater, 1934
Lithograph, mounded on board
12 1/2 x 9 3/4” (31.75 x 25 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
11 3/4 x 7 3/4” (29.9 x 19.7 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune, 1930s
Lithograph
7 1.8 x 6 1/2” (16.6 x 18 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: 62% Greater, 1934
Lithograph, mounted on board
12 1/2 x 10” (32 x 25.5 cm)

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune: Apartments in All Neighborhoods to Suit All Tastes, 1930s
Lithograph
12 3/4 x 8 3/4” (32.1 x 21.5 cm)

Narragansett Ale

Advertisement for Narragansett Ale: Look!, 1938
Lithograph
12 5/8 x 10” (32 x 25.5 cm)

Advertisement for Narragansett Ale: Extra!, c. 1938
Lithograph
12 1/2 x 9” (32 x 23 cm)

Advertisement for Narragansett Ale: Whistle!, c. 1938
Lithograph
12 x 9 1/2” (30.5 x 24 cm)

Time Magazine

Poster: Time, The Weekly News Magazine, 1939
Offset lithograph, mounted on card
21 3/4 x 17 1/4” (55.5 x 44 cm)

Poster: Time, The Essential Weekly to Read, To Advertise In, 1939
Offset lithograph, mounted on card
22 1/4 x 16 3/4” (56.5 x 42.5 cm)

Collier’s

Advertisement for Collier’s Magazine: Hitler’s Nightmare!, 1939
Lithograph, mounted on board
13 1/2 x 10 1/2” (34 x 27 cm)

Advertisement for Collier’s Magazine: Will There Be War, 1939
Lithograph, mounted on board
13 3/8  x 10 3/4” (34 x 27.5 cm)

The Museum of Modern Art

Poster: Museum of Modern Art Competition for National Defense Posters, [1941]
Lithograph, mounted on board
9 x 15 1/8” (23 x 38.5 cm)

Flyer: MoMA Competition for Printed Fabrics, [1947]
Lithograph, mounted on board
10 3/4 x 16 1/4” (27.5 x 41 cm)

Various Clients

Publication: Annual Art Directors Club of Advertising Art (produced between February 15, 1938 and February 15, 1939). Exhibition committee included Lester Beall, 1939
Lithograph
11 x 8 1/2” (28 x 21.5 cm)

Flyer: Fourth Lithographic Awards Competition (1954), 1954
Lithograph, mounted on board
11 7/8 x 8 3/4” (30 x 22 cm)

Leaflet: 8th Annual Meeting of Packaging Institute (November 25–-26, 1946), 1946
Lithograph, mounted on board
9 1/8 x 12 1/8” (23 x 31 cm)

Flyer or Proof: Experiment with Words: A Conversation at Martin on Satellites, Systems and Things to Come, [n.d.]
Lithograph, mounted on board
11 x 8 1/4” (28 x 21 cm)

Periodical (cover proof): Publishers Weekly, vol. 15, no. 3 (January 18, 1947), 1947
Lithograph
13 1/4 x 10 1/4” (37.7 x 25.8 cm)

Periodical Cover: Modern Packaging (June 1956), 1956
Lithograph, mounted on board
11 1/8 x 8 1/4” (28 x 21 cm)

Brochure: ORS: For the Operating Room Supervisor and Nurse, c. 1953
Lithograph, mounted on board
8 7/8 x 12” (22.5 x 30.5 cm)

Periodicals

Photo Engraving

Periodical: Photo Engraving, no. 1 (1938)
Lithograph
10 1/2 x 8 1/2” (27 x 21.5 cm)

Periodical: Photo Engraving, no. 7 (1938)
Lithograph
10 1/2 x 8 1/2” (26.5 x 21.5 cm)

Periodical: Photo Engraving, no. 2 (1938)
Lithograph
10 1/2 x 8 1/2” (26.5 x 21.5 cm)

Periodical: Photo Engraving, no. 3 (1938)
Lithograph
10 1/2 x 8 1/2” (26.5 x 21.5 cm)

Periodical: Photo Engraving, no. 5 (1938)
Lithograph
10 1/2 x 8 1/2” (26.5 x 21.5 cm)

What’s New

Periodical: What’s New, no. 31 (October 1939)
Lithograph
12 1/2 x 9 3/4” (31.2 x 25 cm)

Periodical: What’s New, no. 45 (February 1941)
Lithograph
12 1/2 x 9 3/4” (32 x 25 cm)

Scope

Periodical: Scope: Basic Science Review, no. 11, vol. 2 (October 1949)
Lithograph
11 1/4 x 9” (28.5 x 23 cm)

Periodical: Scope: Basic Science Review, vol. III, no. 2 (December 1950)
Lithograph
11 1/4 x 9” (28.5 x 23 cm)

Periodical: Scope: Basic Science Review, vol. III, no. 3 (May 1951)
Lithograph
11 1/4 x 9” (28.5 x 23 cm)

[Periodical proof]: Scope: Basic Science Review, Orthoxicol [1950s]
Lithograph, mounted on board
11 1/4 x 17 1/2” (28.5 x 44.5 cm)

Client: Lester Beall

Periodical (cover): PM: An Intimate Journal of Production Managers, Art Directors, and Their Associates, vol. IV, no. 3 (November 1937). Special issue on Lester Beall, 1937
[Linocut]
7 7/8 x 5 3/8 x 1/4” (20 x14 x 1.25 cm)

Exhibition Catalogue: A Guide to Lester Beall, A-D Gallery (November 19–December 31, 1945), 1945
Lithograph
7 7/8 x 5 3/8 x 1/16” (20 x 13.75 x .2 cm)

Spread

Spread

Spread

Lester Beall, 580 Fifth Avenue

Lester Beall promotion: Poster no. 1. Client: Rural Electrification Administration, US Department of Agriculture [1937], 1940s
Lithograph
10 x 8 1/2” (25.5 x 21.75 cm), closed

Lester Beall promotion. Magazine no. 1. Client: The Bride’s Magazine [date?], 1940s
Lithograph
10 1/8 x 8 1/2” (25.75 x 21.5 cm), closed

Lester Beall promotion. Magazine no. 4. Client: Abbott Laboratories house magazine What’s New [1941], 1940s
Lithograph
10 x 8 1/2” (25.5 x 21.5 cm)

10 x 17” (25.5 x 43 cm), open

10 x 17” (25.5 x 43 cm), open

10 x 17” (25.5 x 43), open

Dumbarton Farm, Brookfield, CT

Letterhead: Lester Beall Designer, Brookfield Center, Connecticut, c. 1952
Embossed paper and letterpress
11 x 8 1/2” (29.2 x 21.5 cm)
Watermark: Parson’s L’Envoi

Booklet: DF (Dumbarton Farm): A Place in the Country
Brookfield Center, CT: Dumbarton Farm, 1958
11 1/4 x 8 11/16” (28.5 x 22.75 cm), closed

Publication: About U.S. Experimental Typography by American Designers, no. 3: The Art of the Automobile. Reprint from Der Druckspiegel, 1960
Lithograph
9 1/2 x 6 7/8” (24 x 17.5 cm), closed

Book: Lester Beall
Brookfield Center, CT: Dumbarton Farm, 1962
Lithograph
8 x 8 3/8 x 1/4” (20.5 x 21 x .5 cm)

Letterhead: Lester Beall (LB), Brookfield Center, Connecticut, c. 1952
Perforated paper and letterpress
10 1/2 x 7 1/4” (26.6 x 18.4 cm)
Watermark: Cranes Crest

11 1/4 x 17” (28.5 x 43 cm), open

9 1/2 x 14” (24 x 35.5 cm), open

Example of Lester Beall (LB) letterhead adhered to the back of Chicago Tribune: Consider Chicago! advertisement of 1934, which was mounted to a board for submission to a competition in the 1950s.